Top Stories 
Published On May 3, 2006
POLICY
Blood Count
The need for—and dearth of—one precious commodity.
2
Seconds that pass until another American needs a transfusion
4,500,000
Number of American lives saved each year by transfusions
48
Gallons of blood an American could donate if she began giving at age 17 and gave every 56 days until reaching age 76
5
Estimated annual percentage of eligible Americans who donate
500,000
Number of Americans who donated in the days following the September 11 attacks
29,000,000
Number of units of blood components transfused in 2001 (a single donation can be divided into plasma, platelets and red blood cells)
2
Times as likely heart patients are to die after a transfusion to treat blood loss or anemia as heart patients who do not receive a transfusion, possibly because of such problems as artery disease aggravated by the transfusion.
Dispatches
Your Brain on Drugs, Revisited People with drug addictions produce more of a certain brain chemical—and research may point to new ways to block it.
Podcast: Polar Lessons Researchers are untangling how animals can live in the Arctic and Antarctic cold. The applications for human medicine could be vast.
Putting the Dead to Rest Students at the New York Academy of Art are using their sculptural and artistic training to reconstruct the faces of unidentified remains.
On Her Wavelength Indoor light can affect health in good ways and bad. Photobiologist Mariana Figueiro wants to get patients the optimal exposure.
Second Opinion Fall 2018 Experts reflect on the rise of fake medical news and better ways to treat depression.
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